It's a sports argument that never seems to go away, parity vs. superstar dominance. Which one helps a sport more?

Right now, Winston Cup has parity. It had 14 different winners in its 17 races after Greg Biffle won Saturday's Pepsi 400 at Daytona, the unofficial halfway point of the season. The record of 19 different winners in a full season (2001) doesn't look too sturdy with about all 43 cars having a legitimate shot to win every time out this year.

That's good if you're a driver, but what about the average fan who is used to seeing names like Gordon, Earnhardt and Stewart ride to victory lane? How many of us are cheering on Matt Kenseth, the points leader, who has won one race all season?

Apparently quite a few people are, because Winston Cup appears as healthy as ever with its new Nextel deal and tracks trying to outshine one another for an extra race (or a first race, in Kentucky Speedway's case).

So maybe it's OK if Tony Stewart drives from the middle of the pack this year instead of ending the contest by the halfway point. A shootout for the title in November just might take Winston Cup to unprecedented heights in the final season of "Winston" Cup.

In fact, these two transition years, the final season of Winston Cup and the first season of Nextel Cup, might be the most important in NASCAR history, as the league attempts to extend its imprint even further into mainstream America. That's why if there isn't a dominant driver, there needs to be an exciting finish.

BREAKTHROUGH YEAR: It has been quite a season so far for Finnish driver Kimi Raikkonen, who trails Formula One leader Michael Schumacher by seven points with seven races left in the season. At this time last year, Raikkonen was looking for his first career F1 win. Now he's challenging one of auto racing's legendary drivers for a world title.

Raikkonen got that first win this season when he won the second race, the Malaysian Grand Prix in February. He hasn't won since, but four second-place finishes have kept a reasonable gap between him and Schumacher entering today's French Grand Prix.

Last week, it looked as if Raikkonen might make a significant move toward the top of the standings when he won the pole at Nurburgring, Germany. But his McLaren succumbed to engine trouble halfway through the race.

TRUCKS COMING: One weekend before the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series hits Kentucky Speedway, its drivers are putting together the most competitive points race of any NASCAR series.

Entering Saturday's O'Reilly's Auto Parts 250 in Kansas, Brendan Gaughan held a one-point lead over Bobby Hamilton and Rick Crawford.

A tight points race naturally makes for tight racing, which is what the Truck Series needs at stand-alone sites like Kentucky. It's not NASCAR's most popular series, but when the trucks race closely, it can be exciting, because the loss of aerodynamics allows more side-to-side movement.

E-mail ddow@enquirer.com

Results and lineups

Winston Cup

Daytona Pepsi 400 Saturday's results

Daytona, Fla.

Race distance: 400 miles, 160 laps

1. (30) Greg Biffle, Ford, 160, $187,975.

2. (36) Jeff Burton, Ford, 160, $168,142.

3. (27) Ricky Rudd, Ford, 160, $127,600.

4. (25) Terry Labonte, Chevy, 160, $128,806.

5. (15) Bobby Labonte, Chevy, 160, $129,283.

6. (37) Matt Kenseth, Ford, 160, $98,475.

7. (5) Dale Earnhardt Jr., Chevy, 160, $133,067.

8. (10) Jeremy Mayfield, Dodge, 160, $87,175.

9. (2) Kevin Harvick, Chevy, 160, $113,553.

10. (16) Dale Jarrett, Ford, 160, $120,203.

11. (6) Michael Waltrip, Chevy, 160, $90,275.

12. (40) Jimmy Spencer, Dodge, 160, $89,175.

13. (41) Todd Bodine, Ford, 160, $87,450.

14. (3) Jeff Gordon, Chevy, 160, $117,303.

15. (29) Kenny Wallace, Dodge, 160, $84,475.

16. (14) Bill Elliott, Dodge, 160, $107,183.

17. (19) Buckshot Jones, Dodge, 160, $68,000.

18. (11) Jimmie Johnson, Chevy, 160, $87,075.

19. (4) Sterling Marlin, Dodge, 160, $111,225.

20. (33) Mark Martin, Ford, 160, $106,708.

21. (13) Tony Stewart, Chevy, 160, $114,128.

22. (24) Ryan Newman, Dodge, 160, $99,800.

23. (42) Kyle Petty, Dodge, 160, $77,550.

24. (9) Elliott Sadler, Ford, 159, $104,350.

25. (12) Casey Mears, Dodge, 159, $85,639.

26. (32) Mike Bliss, Chevy, 159, $65,300.

27. (22) Johnny Benson, Pontiac, 159, $95,000.

28. (38) Rusty Wallace, Dodge, 159, $102,592.

29. (34) Jeff Green, Chevy, 159, $92,969.

30. (28) Ward Burton, Dodge, 159, $100,991.

31. (35) Jack Sprague, Pontiac, 159, $67,250.

32. (21) David Green, Chevy, 157, $64,125.

33. (43) Stacy Compton, Pontiac, 157, $67,400.

34. (26) Larry Foyt, Dodge, 155, $63,875.

35. (39) Dave Blaney, Ford, 154, $71,750.

36. (31) Kurt Busch, Ford, 151, $83,600.

37. (8) Jamie McMurray, Dodge, 143, $63,475.

38. (20) Joe Nemechek, Chevy, 113, $63,325.

39. (1) Steve Park, Chevy, 112, $78,210.

40. (18) Robby Gordon, Chevy, 86, accident, $88,247.

41. (7) Ken Schrader, Dodge, 85, engine failure, $62,935.

42. (23) Mike Wallace, Pontiac, 84, $62,815.

43. (17) Ricky Craven, Pontiac, 79, accident, $70,945.

Race Statistics

Average Speed of Winner: 166.109 mph.

Time of Race: 2 hours, 24 minutes, 29 seconds.

Lead Changes: 17 among 11 drivers.

Top 10 in Points: M. Kenseth - 2,551; D. Earnhardt Jr - 2,371; J. Gordon - 2,348; B. Labonte - 2,296; M. Waltrip - 2,159; J. Johnson - 2,079; K. Busch - 2,067; K. Harvick - 2,049; R. Wallace - 2,019; S. Marlin - 1,998.

IRL

Kansas Indy 300 Today's lineup

Kansas City, Kansas

1. (9) Scott Dixon, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 218.085.

2. (10) Tomas Scheckter, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 217.892.

3. (12) Tora Takagi, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 217.538.

4. (6) Gil de Ferran, Dallara-Toyota, 215.855.

5. (21) Felipe Giaffone, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 215.697.

6. (3) Helio Castroneves, Dallara-Toyota, 215.631.

7. (31) Al Unser Jr., Dallara-Toyota, 215.619.

8. (11) Tony Kanaan, Dallara-Honda, 215.585.

9. (13) Greg Ray, Panoz G Force-Honda, 215.459.

10. (8) Scott Sharp, Dallara-Toyota, 215.406.

11. (27) Bryan Herta, Dallara-Honda, 215.154.

12. (15) Kenny Brack, Dallara-Honda, 215.145.

13. (26) Dan Wheldon, Dallara-Honda, 214.888.

14. (55) Roger Yasukawa, Dallara-Honda, 214.854.

15. (5) Jaques Lazier, Dallara-Toyota, 214.400.

16. (14) A.J. Foyt IV, Panoz G Force-Toyota, 213.141.

17. (2) Vitor Meira, Dallara-Chevy, 211.619.

18. (4) Sam Hornish Jr., Dallara-Chevy, 210.224.

19. (52) Buddy Rice, Dallara-Chevy, 209.881.

20. (24) Robbie Buhl, Dallara-Chevy, 209.244.

21. (91) Buddy Lazier, Dallara-Chevy, 208.883.

22. (23) Sarah Fisher, Dallara-Chevy, 207.390.

CART

Cleveland Grand Prix

Saturday's results

Lap length: 2.106 miles

1. (1) Sebastien Bourdais, Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 115.

2. (2) Paul Tracy, Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 115.

3. (5) Bruno Junqueira, Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 115.

4. (3) Patrick Carpentier, Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 115.

5. (8) Mario Dominguez, Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 115.

6. (4) Oriol Servia, Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 115.

7. (6) Michel Jourdain Jr., Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 115.

8. (7) Alex Tagliani, Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 115.

9. (11) Ryan Hunter-Reay, Ford-Cosworth/Reynard, 115.

10. (13) Darren Manning, Ford-Cosworth/Reynard, 115.

11. (14) Adrian Fernandez, Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 114.

12. (17) Max Papis, Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 114.

13. (10) Jimmy Vasser, Ford-Cosworth/Reynard, 113.

14. (15) Rodolfo Lavin, Ford-Cosworth/Reynard, 112.

15. (12) Mario Haberfeld, Ford-Cosworth/Reynard, 110.

16. (18) Geoff Boss, Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 36, mechanical.

17. (16) Gualter Salles, Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 18, mechanical.

18. (9) Roberto Moreno, Ford-Cosworth/Lola, 16, contact.

19. DNS Tiago Monteiro Ford-Cosworth/Reynard, 0, withdrawn.